To make the Heart Tender (Ar-Riqaq)

Al-Makki ibn Ibrahim informed us: Abdullah ibn Said—meaning Ibn Abi Hind—informed us, from his father, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: There are two blessings in which many people are deceived: health and free time. Abbas al-Anbari said: Safwan ibn Isa narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Said ibn Abi Hind, from his father, who said: I heard Ibn Abbas narrate the same from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Ghundar narrated to us: Shubah narrated to us, from Muawiyah ibn Qurrah, from Anas, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: O Allah, there is no true life but the life of the Hereafter, so set right the Ansar and the Emigrants.

Ahmad ibn al-Miqdam narrated to me: al-Fudayl ibn Sulayman narrated to us: Abu Hazim narrated to us: Sahl ibn Sad al-Saidi narrated to us: We were with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, at the Trench. He was digging while we carried the dirt past him. He said: O Allah, there is no true life but the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Ansar and the Emigrants. Sahl ibn Sad also transmitted the same from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Abdullah ibn Maslamah narrated to us: Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Hazim narrated to us, from his father, from Sahl, who said: I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say: A place the size of a whip in Paradise is better than this world and all it contains. A morning or evening spent in the path of Allah is better than this world and all it contains.

Ali ibn Abdullah narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman Abu al-Mundhir al-Tufawi narrated to us, from Sulayman al-Amash, who said: Mujahid told me, from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, took me by the shoulder and said, ‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveler passing through.’ Ibn Umar used to say: When evening comes, do not expect to reach the morning; and when morning comes, do not expect to reach the evening. Take from your health for your illness, and from your life for your death.

Sadaqah ibn al-Fadl informed us: Yahya informed us, from Sufyan, who said: My father told me, from Mundhir, from Rabiy ibn Khuthaym, from Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, drew a square, then a line through its middle extending beyond it. He drew small lines from the side of the square toward the central line and said: This is the human being, and this is his appointed term, surrounding him—or already surrounding him. This line extending outside is his hope. These small lines are afflictions. If one misses him, another will bite him; and if that misses him, another will bite him.

Muslim narrated to us: Hammam narrated to us, from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talhah, from Anas, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, drew some lines and said, ‘This is hope, and this is his appointed term. While he is in that state, the nearest line comes upon him.’

Abd al-Salam ibn Mutahhar told me: Umar ibn Ali narrated to us, from Maan ibn Muhammad al-Ghifari, from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: Allah has removed an excuse from a person whose appointed term He has delayed until he has reached sixty years. Abu Hazim and Ibn Ajlan also transmitted it from al-Maqburi.

Ali ibn Abdullah narrated to us: Abu Safwan Abdullah ibn Said narrated to us: Yunus narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Said ibn al-Musayyab informed me that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: The heart of an old person remains young in two things: love of this world and long hopes. Al-Layth said: Yunus told me, and Ibn Wahb related from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Said and Abu Salamah informed me.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: Hisham narrated to us: Qatadah narrated to us, from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The son of Adam grows old, but two things grow with him: love of wealth and longevity. Shubah also related it from Qatadah.

Muadh ibn Asad informed us: Abdullah informed us: Mamar informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: Mahmud ibn al-Rabi informed me—and Mahmud claimed that he remembered the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and remembered a mouthful of water he had squirted from a bucket in their house.

I heard Itban ibn Malik al-Ansari, one of the Banu Salim, say: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came to me in the morning and said: No servant will meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection, saying ‘There is no god but Allah’ and seeking thereby His pleasure, without Allah making the Fire forbidden to him.

Qutaybah narrated to us: Yaqub ibn Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Amr, from Said al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Allah, Exalted is He, says: My believing servant has no reward with Me, when I take from him a beloved person from among the people of this world and he bears it patiently seeking reward, except Paradise.

Ismail ibn Abdullah said: Ismail ibn Ibrahim ibn Uqbah told me, from Musa ibn Uqbah. Ibn Shihab said: Urwah ibn al-Zubayr told me that al-Miswar ibn Makhramah informed him that Amr ibn Awf, an ally of Banu Amir ibn Luayy and a participant in Badr with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, informed him: The Messenger of Allah sent Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah to Bahrain to collect its jizyah. The Messenger of Allah had made a peace agreement with the people of Bahrain and appointed al-Ala ibn al-Hadrami over them. Abu Ubaydah returned with wealth from Bahrain. The Ansar heard of his arrival and came to the dawn prayer with the Messenger of Allah. When he finished, they approached him. He smiled when he saw them and said, ‘I think you have heard that Abu Ubaydah has arrived with something.’ They said, ‘Yes, Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘Then be glad and hope for what will please you. By Allah, it is not poverty that I fear for you. Rather, I fear that the world will be spread before you as it was spread before those who came before you, and you will compete for it as they competed for it, and it will distract you as it distracted them.’

Qutaybah ibn Said narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Abu al-Khayr, from Uqbah ibn Amir, that one day the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, went out and prayed over the people of Uhud as one prays over the dead. Then he returned to the pulpit and said: I will precede you, and I am a witness over you. By Allah, I can see my basin now. I have been given the keys to the treasures of the earth—or the keys of the earth. By Allah, I do not fear that you will associate partners after me; rather, I fear that you will compete for it.

Ismail narrated to us, saying: Malik told me, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Ata ibn Yasar, from Abu Said, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The thing I fear most for you is what Allah brings forth for you from the blessings of the earth. They asked, ‘What are the blessings of the earth?’ He said, ‘The splendor of this world.’ A man asked, ‘Can good bring evil?’ The Prophet fell silent until we thought revelation was descending upon him. Then he wiped his forehead and said, ‘Where is the questioner?’ The man said, ‘Here I am.’ Abu Said said: We were glad when he appeared. The Prophet said: Good brings only good. This wealth is verdant and sweet. What grows in spring may kill an animal through overeating or bring it close to death, except the grazing animal that eats until its flanks stretch, then faces the sun, chews its cud, defecates, and urinates, and then returns to eat. This wealth is sweet. How excellent a help it is when a person takes it rightfully and spends it rightfully. But whoever takes it unlawfully is like one who eats and is never satisfied.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to me: Ghundar narrated to us: Shubah narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Jamrah say: Zuhdam ibn Mudarrib told me: I heard Imran ibn Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them both, relate from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: The best of you are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Imran said: I do not know whether the Prophet said that twice or three times, then continued: After them will come people who bear witness though they are not asked to testify, betray trust and are not trusted, make vows and do not fulfill them, and corpulence will appear among them.

Abdan narrated to us, from Abu Hamzah, from al-Amash, from Ibrahim, from Abidah, from Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: The best of people are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then there will come people after them whose testimony precedes their oaths and whose oaths precede their testimony.

Yahya ibn Musa narrated to me: Waki narrated to us: Ismail narrated to us, from Qays, who said: I heard Khabbab, after he had been cauterized seven times in his abdomen, say: Were it not that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade us to wish for death, I would wish for death. The Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, have passed on, and this world did not diminish their reward in any way. We have acquired worldly things for which we find no place but the earth.